Chapter 273: Chapter 272: An Effortless Gain

Within the Blood Palace, there were also factions.

After all, resources had to be fought for and seized. The Blood Palace was no exception. In fact, their methods were even uglier, so the factionalism was even more severe.

Among the three men present, Zhou Shi, seated in the main chair, was the strongest. He could be considered the Palace Master’s confidant.

But Zhou Shi believed that the man with the goatee, who had been gifted a Tiger Beast by the Palace Master, was the *true* close associate.

Then, both of them quickly turned their gazes to He Chen, who had followed the Palace Master the longest, feeling that he was the one who truly held everyone’s hopes.

Soon, the three men, who were usually at odds, reached an important conclusion during a brief silence:

None of them had a way to contact the Palace Master!

"No kidding. I only came because I thought *you* could contact the Palace Master."

The man with the goatee let out a laugh of exasperation. "If I could contact the Palace Master, would I have condescended to come to your place?"

He Chen nodded faintly. "Same here."

A muscle in Zhou Shi’s cheek twitched in irritation at their reactions. But just then, he recalled something:

’Have I even seen the Palace Master in all my years with the sect?’

He had never even seen a shadow of the person, let alone what the Palace Master looked like.

Orders were always delivered as handwritten letters affixed with a great seal.

Then, they were delivered to his residence by a Mo Ya.

So, while he was nominally one of the twenty-four Upper Envoys, and even ranked among the strongest, he really knew nothing about this elusive Palace Master.

Whether the Palace Master was male or female, old or young, or what kind of person they were—he had no way of knowing.

"Gentlemen, this is not the time for squabbling."

The fact that none of them could contact the Palace Master to report the situation made Zhou Shi’s expression turn grim.

The matter was of great importance. The affair in Cold Rain City had been arranged by the Palace Master’s own letter, so he didn’t dare act recklessly. He could only say helplessly:

"If this isn’t handled properly, when the Palace Master asks about it someday, every single notable member in Cold Rain City will face the consequences! Even with our high status, the three of us won’t be exempt from punishment!"

"So, I hope you two can set aside our past grievances, dispatch some men, and find the villain who slaughtered our sect members!"

"We must prevent any more outposts from being annihilated, lest the Palace Master’s plans be ruined in our hands."

Zhou Shi was, after all, the strongest among them. He Chen and the old man with the goatee had to give him some face. Hearing his tactful words, and considering the gravity of the situation, the two of them nodded.

"We will naturally follow Brother Zhou’s orders!"

Seeing them agree so readily, Zhou Shi breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to lead by example and arrange for men to search the area around Cold Rain City for any trace of the suspicious villain, then lay an ambush to execute him.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the direction of the woods.

He remembered giving orders that no one was to enter without his command.

Zhou Shi looked up and saw that it was one of his subordinates. ’He must have important news to be coming at a time like this.’

"What is it?"

he asked in a deep voice.

The man bowed with a clasped fist. "My lord, two men have arrived in the mountains. They claim to be survivors from an outpost for cultivating flesh armor, which they say was destroyed by the Demon Suppression Guard."

"I have already confirmed their waist tokens and markings. They’re our people."

Zhou Shi’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. ’Someone survived?’

He had previously noticed that other outposts weren’t responding in time and had specifically visited two of them. A brief glance was enough to confirm that it was impossible for anyone at the scene to have survived.

He had also guessed that the attacker was using such lightning-fast methods precisely to prevent news about the flesh armor cultivation outposts from spreading quickly.

That was why he had only noticed something was wrong after a full five locations had been destroyed.

’And under these circumstances, there are survivors?’

’The enemy actually left two people alive?’

’Was it intentional, or a mistake?’

In an instant, Zhou Shi felt that the arrival of these two was more than just a little suspicious.

"Let them in. I have questions for them!" Zhou Shi said coldly.

"Yes, my lord!"

His subordinate turned and walked quickly back into the woods. A short while later, the duo of Li Gui and his companion emerged from the woods, wiping away snot and tears as they sobbed.

Li Gui had been the second-in-command at his outpost, so he knew the locations of some of the other outposts from his superior.

After watching Wu Chen effortlessly annihilate five consecutive outposts,

aside from his shock, he finally confirmed that he had become the man’s guide!

’But no matter what, at least I’m alive, right?’

So, gritting his teeth, he had sought out the location of the highest-ranking Upper Envoy.

’Let’s see if this villain can still be so arrogant!’

But when he saw three figures ahead and recognized that the other two were also powerful Upper Envoys from the sect,

his eyes instantly lit up!

A firm thought rose in his mind:

’If that villain follows me here today, he will surely die!’

"My lords, this lowly one has suffered so terribly!"

Step one: play the victim!

"That villain is just too powerful!"

Step two: shift the blame!

"We fought with all our might but were still no match..."

Step three...

The moment Li Gui and his companion came out of the woods, they dropped to their knees in a textbook-perfect posture and began to wail loudly.

Unfortunately, the three men sitting there were all well advanced in years and as shrewd as they come. They were completely unmoved.

Even before Zhou Shi said anything, the other two also sensed that there was something wrong with these two having survived.

"Since you two survived,"

Zhou Shi coldly cut off their wailing, "tell me, who was in charge of your outpost? Who destroyed it? And how many people came?"

Li Gui’s heart jumped. He had originally planned to be vague, to brush off the questions perfunctorily, and then sit back and watch the tigers fight.

’If they win, I’ll stay here and continue cultivating my flesh armor.’

’If they lose, I’ll keep running until I find the Palace Master!’

But since the man had asked so directly, he knew he couldn’t get away with being vague.

He could only answer truthfully, "My lord, the outpost I was at was run by Blood Envoy Li Miao."

Zhou Shi nodded. He knew of Li Miao. He was at the Perfection level of the Blood Coagulation Realm, had perfected his flesh armor, and was the sect’s next most promising candidate to enter the Leakless Realm.

That was why he was given sole responsibility for one of the outposts where the sect’s subordinates were cultivating their flesh armor.

The goal was for him to accumulate merits in exchange for a large number of pills to break through to the Leakless Realm.

But since he was already dead, Zhou Shi naturally felt no need for regret. He asked, "Were the attackers from the Demon Suppression Bureau?"

Li Gui couldn’t actually confirm Wu Chen’s identity. He shook his head and said, "The attacker wore plain clothes. This lowly one couldn’t tell!"

Zhou Shi nodded, not pressing him on it. He simply continued, "How many of them were there in total?"

"My lord..."

Faced with this question, Li Gui’s mouth suddenly went dry. The image of that swift and deadly figure, who moved like a hawk striking a hare and slaughtered people like they were weeds, flashed repeatedly before his eyes.

"Two people!"

"..."

Silence. After that answer, Li Gui felt as if even the wind in the mountains had stopped dead.

The man with the goatee and He Chen, who was sitting opposite him, shot to their feet. "How many?"

The two of them couldn’t believe the answer.

They could accept if the Demon Suppression Bureau had sent two hundred men. They could even accept two thousand.

But to say there were only two...

"Perhaps they were two Cloud Pattern Captains from the Leakless Realm."

Zhou Shi said faintly, "Two Leakless Realm experts would have no problem destroying a place guarded by someone at the Perfection level of the Blood Coagulation Realm."

’At least, I believe I could do it myself.’

Hearing him say this, the expressions on He Chen and the old man with the goatee improved considerably.

After all, putting themselves in that position, if two Leakless Realm experts were to do it—one dealing with the person in charge of the outpost, the other with the remaining members—

annihilating five outposts with surprise attacks might not be impossible.

The two were about to say something when they saw Zhou Shi suddenly leap into the air, landing in the blink of an eye in front of the kneeling Li Gui and his companion.

"My lord—"

THUMP! THUMP!

Li Gui saw the figure before him and thought, ’This is bad!’ but it was already too late.

The black sleeve swept past, and the heads of the two kneeling men were severed from their necks.

"Brother Zhou, what are you doing?"

He Chen’s heart sank. After a moment’s thought, he understood the intention. "Don’t tell me you also thought something was wrong with them? That they were survivors the villain deliberately left alive?"

"Correct! Otherwise, there’s no reason to have left them alive!"

Zhou Shi nodded and said,

"I imagine these two fools weren’t telling the truth and didn’t even realize something was wrong. That’s how they led the Demon Suppression Guard to annihilate several outposts!"

"Actually, now that you mention it, this is a golden opportunity!"

The man with the goatee suddenly stroked his beard and chuckled.

"We were originally going to hunt this scoundrel down, and now by a stroke of luck, he’s delivering himself to our doorstep!"

"And things are different now. The three of us happen to be gathered in one place—something that villain would never have expected!"

"So this time, it’s our turn to hit him with a surprise lightning-fast attack!"

Hearing this, Zhou Shi and He Chen also understood. They clapped their hands and laughed loudly.

"This villain is destined to die at the hands of us three brothers!"

After laughing, Zhou Shi said, "I imagine the villain who was following these two fools will be here soon. We should prepare now and take him down quickly!"

The other two nodded in agreement.

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